


we could be better

by disasterboy



Category: Set It Off (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Scientists, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Merpeople
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 10:09:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19423825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disasterboy/pseuds/disasterboy
Summary: “You need to come to the lab RIGHT NOW.”“Zach, for the love of God, it’s three in the morning,” Maxx groaned. “Let me sleep, please. I’ll be there Monday-”“NO, Maxx, you need to get here NOW. Like, right fucking now.”“Why?”“Because we found something.”





	we could be better

**Author's Note:**

> this is kind of rushed but i wanted to finish this today, so enjoy nonetheless!! title is from "hell of it" by emarosa, check them out!!!!!!!

_“You need to come to the lab RIGHT NOW.”_

“Zach, for the love of God, it’s three in the morning,” Maxx groaned. “Let me sleep, please. I’ll be there Monday-”

_“NO, Maxx, you need to get here NOW. Like, right fucking now.”_

“Why?” At the urgency in Zach’s tone, Maxx finally opened his eyes and sat up. At first, Maxx had thought that Zach was just calling him to demand his help with paperwork or something, as usual, but Zach usually left him alone if he said no. For Zach to be insisting on his coming to the lab something had to be wrong. Maxx was already throwing on a pair of pants when Zach finally responded.

_“Because we found something.”_

“You’re shitting me.”

_“No, I’m not! Do you think I’d call you in at 3 am without-”_

“Yes you fucking would, you prick.”

_“Okay, okay, fine. But this time I’m serious. We’ve actually found something, I’m looking at it right now-”_

“Okay, I’m on my way.” With that, Maxx hung up the phone, racing to get his shoes on and get out the door as fast as possible.

* * *

Zach was standing at the door when Maxx pulled into the parking lot. The marine biology lab where Maxx worked wasn’t a very large one, but it was within ten minutes of his house and it was located directly next to the sea. Nothing big ever happened here — until now, that is.

“What did you find?” Maxx asked. He didn’t even lock his car, instead pushing past Zach into the main lobby of the lab. He buttoned up his lab coat as Zach followed.

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” Zach pulled ahead of Maxx, leading him towards a door that had a “TOP SECRET: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY” sign hanging on it.

“That wasn’t there yesterday.”

“We didn’t _need_ it yesterday.” Zach pulled out a key — “You’ll get one too, don’t worry” — and unlocked the door, pushing Maxx inside as soon as it was open.

Staring at Maxx from behind the glass wall of a fish tank was a human.

“What? Why is he in there?” Maxx asked.

“Look at his legs,” said Zach. Maxx did as he was told, but instead of legs there was a shimmering blue fish tail curled up underneath the very human torso.

“I… You found-”

“A merman, yeah. One of our divers found it caught in a net on the beach and brought him here to save it.”

Maxx was too mesmerized by the merman to respond to Zach. He had blue eyes that matched the shade of his tail, and his hair was jet black and cut at odd angles with fringe that fell in front of his eyes. His skin was covered in fresh cuts and wounds, probably from trying to escape the net he was caught in. Maxx couldn’t take his eyes off of the specimen in the tank, and the merman stared at him in return. He was curled up in the corner, arms wrapped around his skinny torso and panic filling his blue eyes as he looked at Maxx. Maxx could feel his heart breaking; who would do this to such a beautiful creature? What had made him so scared?

“I can’t believe we finally found something.”

“I know. Isn’t it amazing?”

“Yeah,” Maxx agreed, still not breaking eye contact with the merman, “he is.”

“I’ve been told that we’re keeping it here until it heals completely.”

“What are we going to do after he’s better?”

“I’m not sure. They didn’t tell me that. But they did want one of us to keep watch tonight, keep an eye on its vitals and all that jazz. The tank is set up with devices that monitor things like its heart rate and-”

“I can do it. You’ve been here since, like, 8, I think it’s time you went home and got some sleep.”

“Are you sure? I know I just woke you up and-”

“Zach. Go home.” With a minimal amount of raised eyebrows, Zach handed Maxx the key to the room and left him alone with the merman. The scientist pulled up a chair and sat down in the middle of the room, still facing the tank. The merman did not move. They stayed like that, saying nothing but not breaking eye contact, for what seemed like hours.

Eventually, however, the merman moved, startling Maxx as he glided through the water in the tank. His movements were cautious and expressed fear, but he still moved and put his hands and face up against the glass. His palms and the tip of his nose left little smudge marks on the otherwise pristine glass.

Maxx moved slowly, so he didn’t frighten the poor creature, but soon he was standing in front of the tank. Blue eyes met hazel as Maxx and the merman continued to look at each other. Maxx slowly lifted his hand up to place it down on the opposite side of the glass, directly over where the merman’s hand was, in what he hoped was a show of solidarity and peace. After realizing Maxx wasn’t a danger, the merman smiled at him, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth lining his mouth.

Maxx already knew he was done for.

* * *

Several months after the merman’s rescue, Maxx found himself growing more and more attached to the creature. He would volunteer for as many watch shifts as possible, sitting in the room in silence as he watched the merman swim around in the confining tank. His presence seemed to sooth the merman, too — he didn’t trust the other scientists in the lab, but whenever Maxx walked into the room his face would light up in a smile and the tension would leave his shoulders. Many late nights were spent standing or sitting next to the tank, watching and bonding with the mythical creature inside.

Recently, Maxx had felt his cheeks flush whenever the merman made eye contact. They didn’t really communicate— through body language or otherwise— but sometimes the merman would make silly faces at Maxx just to make the scientist laugh, and Maxx would be able to see that dazzling smile that he had already come to love. He didn’t know what any of this meant, but he knew it probably wasn’t good.

It was during one of those late nights that Maxx first heard the merman’s voice.

It started out as a night like any other; Maxx standing and watching, the merman swimming placidly, but about an hour into his shift the merman suddenly swam upwards and hauled his upper body over the top of the glass walls.

“Whoa, what are you doing?!” Maxx yelled. He instantly rushed forward, only to get water splashed on his head from above. The merman giggled as Maxx sputtered and wiped off the water with the sleeve of his lab coat.

“Oh, so you think that’s funny, huh?”

“Yes.”

Maxx blinked, his insides running cold. He turned his face upwards to stare in confusion and shock at the creature who was smiling down at him.

“Did you… Did you just speak?”

The merman nodded. Oh.

“Could you talk this whole time?” Another nod.

“Can all merpeople speak?”

“No. We use telepathy to communicate underwater, and most of us don’t go above the surface and have no use for spoken languages,” the merman explained.

“How do you know English, then?”

“A, uh… friend taught me.”

“Was this friend human?”

“No, but he lived among them. He still does, I think.”

“How did he live among us if he was a merman?”

“He grew legs, duh.”

At Maxx’s confusion, the merman sighed.

“Get me out of this tank, and I’ll explain.”

“Wouldn’t you, like… not be able to breathe?”

“It’ll be fine.”

Maxx shrugged and went to grab the ladder. After a fair amount of maneuvering and trying not to fall backward off of the ladder with an entire merman in his arms, Maxx and the merman were safely on the ground. Maxx continued to hold him, with the merman’s arms around his neck and Maxx supporting him with one arm under his tail and the other around his back, until the merman’s tail began to change and split in two. Maxx could only watch in a mix of horror and fascination as blue scales disappeared back into pale skin. Soon enough, Maxx was holding a regular—albeit naked—human man.

“Holy sh-”

“Pretty cool, right?” The merman grinned at Maxx, flashing a set of regular non-pointy teeth at him.

“Yeah, oh my God, that was amazing! Can all merpeople do that?”

“As far as I know, yeah.”

“Can— Can you walk?”

“I’m not sure.” Maxx put him down on the floor, but as soon as the scientist let go the merman instantly collapsed to the floor. Maxx reached down and scooped him up again.

“Not right now, apparently. I prefer having a tail, anyway.”

“I need… Can you sit down for, like, two minutes? I need to write this down.” The merman frowned but allowed himself to be placed in the chair anyway. Maxx immediately ran to grab a pen and his notepad and wrote down everything that just happened as fast as possible.

“What are you writing?”

“I’m making notes.”

“On?”

“You.”

“Oh.” The merman sounded confused. “Why?”

“Because we’ve never found anything like you before. I need to record all of this for science.”

“Why?”

“Well, whenever we make a new discovery, we record it so we can learn more about whatever it is we’re studying.”

“Am I just something to be studied, then?”

Maxx looked back up to find the merman glaring at him. He had gone from confused to angry in a split second, and Maxx raised an eyebrow.

“Of course not. It’s just… none of us have ever seen a merman before, and we want to know what to expect if we ever find another one.”

“Okay, yeah, sure. Can you put me back in the tank, please?” Maxx felt a pang of sadness in his chest, but he still picked up the merman and helped him back into the water.

“Wait,” Maxx called out before he could swim back to the corner. Saddened blue eyes turned back to him, and he internally flinched. “Do you have a name?” The merman looked like he was thinking for a second before responding.

“Cody.”

“Cody, okay. I’m Maxx.”

“Good for you.” Cody swam back down to the bottom of the tank, leaving Maxx alone for the rest of the night until Zach came in to relieve him of his shift. Those pretty blue eyes followed him into his dreams, though; they held Maxx in their clutches and refused to let him go. Maxx wasn’t even sure he wanted them to let him go.

* * *

“Sir, the creature has seemed to have formed a bond with one of the scientists on the team. Not only that, but I read Danziger’s notes from last night, and it seems that it can grow legs and speak fluent English.

_“Initiate Phase Two immediately. Make sure Danziger is not a part of the team for Phase Two; if Danziger has already bonded with it he may not appreciate what we’re about to do, and he may interfere with the plans.”_

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

The next night, Maxx managed to sneak in a box of chocolates under his lab coat, and when Zach finally left he pulled them out and showed them to Cody. The merman looked more subdued than usual, but when he saw that Maxx had brought something he instantly perked up.

“What’s that?” he asked after swimming up to the top of the tank.

“It’s chocolate. I wanted to apologize for what I said last night. You’re more than just something to be studied, and I’m sorry that I insinuated that.”

“Apology accepted, but what is chocolate?”

“You… You’ve never had chocolate?”

Cody shook his head, grinning at Maxx. “Haven’t had much besides fish and the occasional eel since I was born.”

“Oh. Well, here, try one.” Maxx took a single chocolate out of the box and handed it to Cody, who reached out and gingerly took it in his webbed and clawed hand. He held it up to his face and sniffed it before popping it into his mouth. Instantly, his eyes snapped open in surprise, closing in bliss a second later. A small moan escaped his lips, and suddenly Maxx’s face was turning red and his pants felt a tiny bit tighter than usual. It wasn’t his fault Cody was incredibly attractive.

“Can I have another?”

“Have the whole box. I got them for you.” Maxx handed the box up to Cody, who took less than two minutes to devour the whole thing.

“Is the box edible too?”

“No.”

“Damn.” Cody handed the box back to Maxx, who tossed it in the trash from his spot on top of the ladder. Cody had chocolate all over his mouth, and Maxx was starting to wonder what it would be like to lean in and kiss his lips clean. He didn’t realize he was _actually_ leaning in until Cody was only an inch or two away. He smelled like the sea, comforting and salty and filling Maxx with the desire to go to the beach. Cody’s blue eyes met his before flicking down to look at Maxx’s lips and leaning in to close the space between them.

Cody _tasted_ like the sea, too, but the taste of chocolate overpowered that. Maxx let his eyes flutter shut, sliding a hand to hold the back of Cody’s neck. Cody’s hands came up to grip at Maxx’s biceps; his claws were digging into Maxx’s flesh and his lab coat was getting wet, but he didn’t care.

Eventually Maxx had to breathe, but when he went to pull away Cody’s hands tightened around his arms and dragged him right back in.

“Cody, I-... I need to breathe, please-” Maxx muttered in between kisses. Cody, thankfully, relented after another couple of seconds, and Maxx sucked in a huge breath of air. He was panting heavily, but Cody seemed fine— _Of course he’s fine_ , Maxx thought, _he’s got gills, not lungs_. Cody leaned forward to press their foreheads together in an affectionate gesture, and Maxx couldn’t help the smile that made its way onto his face.

“Do you know the lore,” Cody began, “about mermaids, and how they’re made?”

“Not really, no. Why?” Cody’s soft smile sharpened a small bit, but his eyes were full of pity, and honestly Maxx was more confused than he had ever been before.

“There are a lot of legends you humans have about people turning into mermaids. Some say potions, some say spells, some say drowning with your hands and feet tied. That last one is bullshit, by the way, don’t try it.”

Maxx tried to listen to Cody, but all of a sudden his head felt fuzzy, like somebody had stuffed it with cotton. His legs had started itching, too, but Cody still had a grip on his arms so he couldn’t move to scratch them.

“One of the most common ways to turn someone into a mermaid, though, is for them to kiss a mermaid.”

Oh. Oh no. Maxx could feel his blood run cold as Cody’s words sunk in. He opened his mouth to say something, but Cody pulled him into the tank before he could even form words in his head. As soon as his skin hit the water, Maxx was overcome with a burning sensation all over his body, and he was pretty sure that he screamed as the world went dark around him.

* * *

When Maxx opened his eyes again, he was met with Cody’s worried blue irises staring intently at him. Maxx groaned as he sat up, but he found that he was still underwater. The panic set in again until he realized that he could still breathe.

 _‘How are you feeling?’_ Cody asked. His mouth didn’t move when he spoke, and Maxx remembered what he had said yesterday about telepathy among mermaids.

_‘I’m fine… I think? What was that?’_

Cody smiled sheepishly at him in response. Maxx was confused until Cody gestured for Maxx to look down. Maxx frowned and did so. There, attached to his waist, was a shimmering golden tail, complete with decorative fins and everything. His hands, upon further inspection, had the same claws and webbing that Cody’s had, and poking around in his mouth proved that he also had the same sharp teeth.

_‘Did you…. turn me into a mermaid?’_

_‘Yeah. Sorry.’_

_‘Why?’_

_‘It was an accident, I just… I really wanted to kiss you.’_ Maxx smiled at Cody’s confession, reaching up to place a hand on his neck to drag him in for another kiss. This one was different than their first, mainly because they weren’t separated by a wall of glass this time. Cody instantly attached himself to Maxx, holding his face in his hands and smiling the entire time.

They stayed like that, holding each other as they kissed, until it was almost time for Maxx to leave.

 _‘I have to go,’_ Maxx said. Cody didn’t let go of him, though; instead, his response was to cling to him tighter.

_‘Please don’t leave me.’_

_‘I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise. I need to sleep.’_

__‘Sleep here, with me.'__

_‘Cody, if they knew I was a merman they would keep me in a different room, in a different tank. We wouldn’t be able to see each other again.’_ Cody looked even sadder at that but he helped Maxx haul himself over the top of the tank onto the ladder anyway. After Maxx’s legs grew back— a very unsettling and freaky experience that would need time to get used to— Maxx made his way back down to the floor and put away the ladder. The key turning in the lock signaled that Zach had showed up for his shift.

 _‘I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?’_ Cody nodded, but his expression nearly broke Maxx’s heart. He gave the merman a weak smile before going to greet Zach.

* * *

“This won’t hurt a bit, I promise.” Cody looked at the strange man curiously, then switched to look at the thing in his hand. It was shiny and metal, and one end looked sharp. The man’s other hand was extended towards Cody, but Cody shrank away. They had moved him— with some difficulty, he was proud to admit— to a much smaller tank, and his entire torso and the end of his tail hung over the sides. Cody shrunk away from the man, but that only seemed to make him madder. He grabbed Cody’s arm and stuck the sharp end of whatever he was holding into his skin. Cody cried out, but the man didn’t stop. He drew Cody’s teal blood out of his veins, and only took the thing out when it was full.

“You lied.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” The man turned away from Cody, who curled up as much as he could and wished that Maxx was by his side.

* * *

A few weeks after their first kiss, Cody wasn’t in his tank when Maxx came to relieve Zach’s shift. The key unlocked the door, but when he walked in the room was empty. The tank was devoid of any life, and all of the papers and clutter that he had left on the tables and counters were gone. Maxx had gotten used to coming in to find Cody waiting for him to join him in the water, and seeing the room empty was jarring for him.

“What-”

There was a knock on the doorframe, and Maxx turned around to find Zach standing behind him.

“Where’s Cody?”

“Oh, it has a name?”

“Where is he, Zach?”

“We moved him to Exam Room 3. You’re not taking shifts anymore.”

“Wh- Why not?”

“We’ve advanced to another phase, and Mr. Finsk decided that it would be best if you weren’t a part of the project anymore.”

Oh no.

“Why Exam Room 3, though? What are you doing to him?”

“It’s none of your concern. Go home,” a voice said from behind. Both Zach and Maxx turned around to find the boss man himself, Mr. Finsk, standing in the hallway behind Zach. “It was my call to not include you in this phase. My word is final, and I better not find you sticking your nose into anywhere it doesn’t belong. Is that clear?”

“I… yes sir.” Maxx sighed and made his way back out to his car. As soon as his back hit the sheets once he got home he was out like a light, his dreams were haunted by Cody’s blue irises.

Needles and surgical equipment were reflected in those deep blue irises, and the dream was tinged with pain and anxiety and fear. Maxx felt like he was a fish out of water, and then suddenly he was being tied down and having something injected into his veins.

These dreams didn’t stop, however, after just one night. They went on and on for weeks, and the longer Maxx went without seeing Cody the worse they got.

Something was wrong, and Maxx knew, even in a dream, that he needed to fix it.

* * *

Sneaking in proved to be kind of easy. He had been given a universal key to all the exam rooms when he had been promoted two months prior, and he knew the man guarding the security cameras had a huge crush on him so it was all too easy to distract him while Maxx looked at the feed from Exam Room 3.

The screen showed Cody in a much smaller tank than before. Even through the shitty video feed he could tell that Cody was less spirited than before. He seemed broken and sad, and Maxx’s heart clenched at the sight. Zach was sitting in a chair not too far away from the tank.

Wishing the security guard goodbye (after secretly shutting off the security camera in Exam Room 3 by some miracle), Maxx carefully picked his way down the hallway towards Exam Room 3. He hoped he didn’t look suspicious carrying a backpack, but nobody stopped to question him so he figured that it was all good. When he reached the room he slowly unlocked it, but he opened up the door to come face-to-face with Zach.

“Tell me you’re not sneaking back in here to see him.”

“Please, Zach, I can’t just leave him here. I-”

“Oh, so you’re _taking_ him? You’re so jealous that you didn’t get put on the team that you're just gonna-”

“I LOVE him, Zach.”

Both of them stood there facing each other for a few tension-filled moments before Zach sighed and moved away.

“I know. He loves you too. He has for months.”

“How can you tell?”

“He talks to me, when we’re alone. I’ve kind of been considering sneaking him out myself after seeing what they’ve done to him.”

“ _What_ have they done to him?” Zach pointed to a table near the far wall, and Maxx saw that it was filled with what looked like tools of torture. In reality they were surgical tools but Maxx wasn’t sure there was a difference in the way they were being used.

Zach allowed him to step into the room, making sure nobody else had seen them before closing it. Maxx located Cody easily enough, and when the merman spotted him he instantly brightened up.

“Maxx!”

The cheery tone in his voice did nothing to disguise how broken and raw it was. His skin looked paler than usual, and Maxx could clearly see dozens of needle marks littering his skin in various places, including his neck. His scales were a sickly light blue instead of the vibrant deep blue they had been when Cody first arrived at the lab. Maxx nearly started crying at the sight of him.

“Hey, Cody. I-” Cody cut him off by reaching out to drag him into a kiss. This kiss wasn’t heated and needy like the past ones had been, but instead it was slow and full of longing and relief.

“I came to get you out of here,” Maxx explained once he and Cody broke apart.

“How?”

“Get out of the tank, and I’ll show you.” Cody frowned but allowed himself to be lifted out anyway. Maxx sunk down to the floor with him, taking the opportunity to just hold him while they waited for his legs to return. The water from Cody’s skin dampened Maxx’s clothes as the merman clung to him, and Maxx could feel his own skin start to crawl with the need to transform but he pushed it down and kept waiting. Eventually Cody’s tail disappeared and Maxx was once again left holding a naked human Cody. His entire body was thinner, Maxx noticed, and he felt the anger flare up in his stomach.

“Holy shit.” Both heads turned to look at Zach, who was staring at them in shock and wonder. “I… I read in your notes that he could change, but I never…”

“I know. It’s kind of cool.” Maxx stood up, helping Cody stand on his own before opening the backpack he brought and handing Cody some clothes for him to wear.

“Put these on.” Cody eagerly obeyed— though getting the clothes on proved to be a challenge— and soon he was dressed and reaching to hold Maxx’s hand. Maxx gently squeezed his hand in reassurance before turning to Zach.

“I know you’re going to get in trouble for this, but thank you.”

“I’ll tell them you knocked me out and stole him. It’ll be okay. I suggest you go far away, though. They’re not going to stop looking for him, or you.” Maxx let go of Cody’s hand for a moment to hug his best friend, who proceeded to crush him in a bear hug in return. Once Zach had let go, Maxx grabbed Cody’s hand again and made their way towards the door.

“Do you know how to run?”

“Of course I do, but I don’t know if I’d be able to right now. I’m barely standing up.”

“Okay then, we’re just going to walk. The lobby isn’t that far, but if anyone else who knows about you sees you we’re done for, so you have to be quick.”

Maxx cracked the door open a bit, and when he saw that the hallway was clear he opened it all the way and led Cody out of the room. They kept a brisk pace while they walked, and Cody never let go of his hand, even as they exited the building and reached his car.

Maxx didn’t relax until the building was out of sight, but Cody still held his hand in a vice grip over the gearshift.

* * *

As soon as they walked in the door of his house Maxx found himself with an armful of black hair and hungry lips searching for his own. Maxx’s hands went immediately to Cody’s hips as the merman pushed him up against the door.

“Wow, someone’s eager,” Maxx laughed as Cody broke away to start clawing at Maxx’s clothes. The lab coat came first, and then his t-shirt. Cody’s hands started roaming all over his newly exposed skin, and Maxx sucked in a sharp breath as Cody smirked.

“Been wanting to do this since I first saw you, so yeah. I’m a bit eager.”

“Have you done this before?”

“What, sex? Yeah, of course.”

Maxx blinked several times. He didn’t want to think of how mermaids had sex, or how Cody went from scared and afraid to horny in like three seconds, so he just hummed and dragged Cody back in for another kiss.

They continued to make out against the door for a few more minutes, but Maxx broke apart and directed them to his bedroom when Cody started grinding against his thigh. It started out kind of soft and sweet, with Cody praising Maxx and kissing every inch of skin he could find as he fingered him open, but when Cody was finally inside of him it quickly took a turn for the rough. Each thrust of Cody’s hips drove Maxx wild, and he had to wrap his legs around Cody’s waist to keep them from jerking too much at the pleasure.

Maxx was _really_ glad he didn’t have very many neighbors.

When they finished they cuddled up in bed together, with Cody’s arms wrapped around Maxx and their legs still intertwined.

“The last time I did that was with Dan. I kind of missed it, actually,” Cody admitted.

“Was Dan the “friend” you mentioned?”

Cody nodded. “He wanted to leave the sea, but I didn’t. We tried to make it work for a couple of years, but… he changed, eventually, and said it was “too hard to keep living like this”.”

“I’m sorry, Cody.”

“Eh, it was a few years ago. It’s okay.” Maxx pressed a kiss to Cody’s forehead, and Cody smiled warmly at him.

“We need to leave tomorrow. Zach was right; they’re not going to stop looking for us, and we certainly can’t stay here.”

“Why don’t we just leave now?”

“I’m tired and don’t think I can walk, let alone drive. We’ll pack up the essentials and then leave in my car.”

Cody nodded, smiling when Maxx yawned and dragged him closer.

“Go to sleep, Maxx.”

* * *

“Mr. Finsk, sir, I think we’ve found them.”

_“You did? Where?”_

“We caught sight of someone who looks like Danziger leaving a supermarket yesterday in a small town in Wyoming. We tracked him back to his apartment and we found Danziger’s car in the parking lot.”

_“Excellent. Bring the specimen in, but kill Danziger.”_

* * *

It had been nearly a decade since Maxx had rescued Cody from the lab. Maxx had grown his hair out, and Cody had dyed his blue and had started working out. They moved every year or so, and right now they were settled somewhere in Wyoming. Cody didn’t like it as much as he liked the coastal cities, but he knew that this was the only way to ensure their safety.

Over the years, Cody had been teaching Maxx more about being a merman, while Maxx taught Cody more about being a human. They often snuck out to the lake not far from their place, just so they could swim and relieve the itching feeling they both got when they were away from the water for too long. Cody’s scales had long since been returned to their former glory, and one of Maxx’s favorite things to do was watch how they reflect the light in the Wyoming sunshine.

It was all too good to be true, and Maxx knew it, but he was fully planning on enjoying the time he got to spend with Cody before they caught up to them.

One particularly cold morning in February, Maxx was woken up to the sound of someone jiggling the handle on their apartment door. Maxx was instantly alert, not moving so as to not disturb Cody but listening intently. After a few seconds the rattling stopped, but just as Maxx started to drift back off he heard something enter the lock.

Fuck.

Gently shaking Cody awake, he put his finger to his lips to motion for him to keep quiet. He put on a pair of boxers as quickly as possible, grabbing the baseball bat from the corner of their room and sneaking towards the door. Whoever was on the other side managed to successfully pick the lock a few seconds later, but when the door opened Maxx was met with one of his old coworkers pointing a gun at him.

“Maxx. So nice to see you again.”

“What the fuck is this, some sort of stupid spy movie? Cut the jokes, man, I know why you’re here.”

“Then you know I can’t leave without him.”

“You can, and you wi-” The coworker— Maxx couldn’t even remember his name— interrupted him by firing the gun. The bullet grazed Maxx’s arm, and Maxx cried out in pain as the bullet embedded itself in the wall behind him.

“Maxx? Maxx!” Cody yelled from the bedroom. He rushed out just to see Maxx pull back his hand from covering the new wound. Both his hand and his arm were covered in teal blood.

“You… Your blood… You’re one of _them_?” the coworker stuttered. Maxx only glared at him as Cody rushed to his side.

“Babe, are you-”

“I’m alright,” Maxx whispered. “You need to get out of here. I’ll hold him off.”

“That’s very noble of you, Maxx, but I’m on strict orders to kill you and take _it_ back to the lab.” After finishing his sentence, the piece of shit in a lab coat pointed the gun directly at Maxx’s chest. Maxx screwed up his eyes when he heard the gun fire, but when he expected pain he felt nothing. He heard something drop to the floor in front of him, however, and he opened his eyes to find Cody with a bullet in his throat.

“Oh my g… Oh my God, what did you do?!”

“I-I didn’t mean to! He just jumped in front of you!” Maxx scrambled over to Cody’s side, hoping to at least tell him that he loved him one last time, but the light had already left Cody’s baby blue eyes, and Maxx nearly choked on his sobs. He grabbed one of Cody’s hands, but the warmth was already leaving them. Tears from Maxx’s eyes dropped down onto Cody’s bare chest, right over where his heart used to beat and in the exact spot Maxx used to lay his head nearly every night before drifting off to sleep.

“Well, this sucks,” the coworker said. “But at least I won’t go home empty-handed.”

Maxx looked up to glare at him, once again finding the gun pointed at his head.

“Since it’s your fault we lost the original, we can just study you instead. Now come on, go wash up and get dressed. Can’t have you flying on an airplane covered in blood and in your underwear.”

It wasn’t a request. Maxx took one last look at Cody’s still form before moving to the bathroom to wash off the blood.

* * *

“Maxx. Maxx, wake up.”

Maxx slowly opened his eyes to find Zach hovering over the tiny tank he had been confined to for the past… actually, Maxx didn’t know how long he had been in this tank. It could have been years, or decades, or centuries. He lost track of time after the first six months.

“Hey Zach,” he croaked out. Zach gave him a small pity-filled smile before handing him a tupperware container.

“I brought you some mac and cheese. Geoff made it for you.”

Geoff was Zach’s husband, and Maxx had known him before he had been imprisoned in this glass cage. Maxx’s memory brought back fuzzy images of kind eyes, soft hair, and an even softer smile.

“Thanks, but I’m not hungry.”

“Maxx, you haven’t eaten for three weeks. You’re like a living skeleton, man, please.”

“I’m fine, Zach.” Maxx lifted one pale hand, the one with the IV shunt permanently stuck in the back of it, to push the container away. Zach frowned, looking like he was about to cry, but he knew better than to argue with Maxx.

“What are you gonna do to me today?”

“You know I’m not going to do anything, Maxx. I never do.”

“Yeah, and they keep busting your balls for it. Just go ahead and do what they tell you to. I’m not going to hate you for it.”

“I _can’t_ , Maxx. You’ve been my best friend since elementary school, I can’t just stick you full of needles. It’s been hard enough watching this go on for years; I don’t want to contribute to your suffering.”

Maxx didn’t respond to that, and Zach sighed.

“Look man, maybe I can find a way to get you out of here. Maybe-”

“No.”

“But-”

“No, Zach!” Maxx shot up in his tank, but he sunk back down when black spots started overtaking his vision. He took a deep breath before continuing. “Leaving this place is what got Cody killed. I’m not going to risk losing you like how I lost him.”

This time it was Zach’s turn to remain quiet. He knew the only reason Maxx had allowed himself to be experimented on and tortured for the past five years was because of what happened to Cody and the emotional toll his death took on him. He didn’t blame Maxx; if something like that happened to Geoff, Zach would be just as heartbroken.

Eventually, Zach’s shift was over, and one of the other people on the research team came to relieve him. Zach shot one last look at Maxx before leaving. Worry nagged at the back of his mind the entire way home and throughout the rest of the evening with Geoff. He couldn’t ignore it, but he wasn’t going to rush back to the lab at the risk of losing his job. Geoff tried his best to soothe him and calm his nerves, but even his gentle husband couldn't ease his worry.

When he came back the next morning, though, Maxx was dead. The person who had been on watch said he had died in his sleep, but when Zach saw the bloody surgical tools he knew it was a lie. Maxx’s body hadn’t been moved from the bloody water in the tank, and his once-shimmering golden scales were now translucent. Zach quit immediately afterward.

* * *

_Maxx didn’t think Heaven was underwater, and yet here he was. His scales were back to their golden glory, and when he looked at his fingers the pale gold webbing was no longer clipped and his claws were back to the length they had been before the scientists clipped them. His fins were undamaged, his skin was no longer a sickly green, and he felt great._

_He enjoyed swimming around in the ocean for a few moments. He stopped cold, however, when he saw an all-too-familiar blue tail flashing into an underwater cave a few meters away._

‘Cody?’ _The tail stopped moving, and slowly Cody’s head appeared around the walls of the cave._

‘Maxx? Is that… Is that you?’ _Maxx nodded, and Cody’s face broke out into a grin. He rocketed towards Maxx, and Maxx let out a laugh full of air bubbles as his boyfriend engulfed him for the first time in years. It seemed like Maxx couldn’t hold Cody tight enough, and he would have crawled inside Cody’s skin if he could have just to be as close as possible to him._

‘Oh my God, I- I thought I was never going to see you again, I…’

‘I know, Cody. I know.’ _Cody buried his face in Maxx’s shoulder, and the blond could feel his body shaking with sobs._

‘I missed you so much.’

_Maxx had come home, and nothing could hurt them here._


End file.
